I'll Be There For You
by Siena Christmas
Summary: Chin dies, and Kono is left floundering. Luckily, Danny is there, and he won't let her drown.


**_Summary:_** _Chin dies, and Kono is left floundering. Luckily, Danny is there, and he won't let her drown._

 _ **A/N:**_ _The main purpose of this fic is to compensate for the lack of Kono in my story Gift of Ohana. I love Kono, but she's kind of hard for me to write. Even so, this fic happened._

 _Originally, it was just going to be Kono and occasional flashes to Chin, but Danny wanted to be in the story and I couldn't say no. Needless to say, he pushed me out of the driver's seat and took the wheel!_

 _Hope you enjoy!_

 ** _I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU_**

Family meant a lot to Kono.

Close familial bonds and brotherly love had strengthened her parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends, creating a tight-knit group called ohana.

Ohana meant helping your loved ones in time of need. Ohana meant never leaving anyone behind. Ohana meant having your partner's back and ohana meant protecting your family to the extreme.

Alone, Kono sat on her surfboard in the open ocean, Hawaii's skyscrapers sparkling in the distance. The clouds above her were golden in the rosy light of the setting sun, but Kono did not find it beautiful, because Chin was not there to share it with her.

Her legs dangled in the water, and she slumped forward listlessly, red, bloodshot eyes staring off at nothing. Kono wasn't sure how long she'd sat there, thinking.

Regretting.

Mourning.

Time was meaningless after watching someone die.

And when that someone was her cousin...

As clear as day, Kono saw the blood seeping out from the wound in Chin's chest. She remembered exclaiming, out of shock, "Where the hell is your Kevlar?" and instantly regretting it, because who would say that when their best friend was dying?

She remembered how blood trickled out of Chin's mouth as he managed to say, "Day off. No need."

Why did danger seem to have a scent for Five-0? Why did it always have to be one of them?

Later, Kono discovered that Chin had seen an escaped convict about to shoot a woman, and had rushed to push her out of the way. Thus, the bullet had hit Chin instead.

Kono was going to kill that convict later.

Now, two weeks later, Chin was gone, having bled out on the sidewalk in a matter of seconds. Kono had barely any time to say anything except "I love you, cuz."

She never thought it would happen.

She never thought the day would come when she would say goodbye to her best friend, her brother.

Bad things always seemed to happen to this team. Why?

In the ocean, slouched atop her surfboard, Kono sniffed and wished she had more tears to cry. But her eyes were dry and itchy; Kono didn't care.

Briefly, she wondered if she should just stay in the water, far away from civilization. She would simply pass put from a combination of heat and dehydration. She'd fall off her board and drown.

And join Chin.

The hole he had left in her heart was gaping and empty, and Kono doubted that filling it with Steve or Danny would work. Sure, the two men were as close as siblings to her, but none shared the bond she had had with her cousin.

"I miss you, Chin," she said to the open water, her raspy voice quaking.

There was no reply, and Kono sat still, the bobbing ocean waves gently rocking beneath her.

She thought the silence would be calming; instead, it was fraying her nerves. The silence allowed her to think, to think about Chin and Chin's voice, what Chin used to do and how Chin was.

Kono took a shuddering breath, turned her board around, and slowly began to paddle back the way she'd come.

It took forever that way, but Kono didn't really care. Chin was gone, so what was there to care about?

By the time she tiredly dragged her board up onto the deserted beach, it was dark out. It was a miracle she hadn't gotten lost at sea...

Suddenly, a familiar male voice shouted "Kono!" and she turned to see a figure sprinting towards her. Moonlight glanced off his blonde hair, and that was all Kono needed to recognize him as...

"Hey, Danny," she said listlessly. Upon reaching her, the detective stopped short. "Hey, Kono. We've been really worried about you! Kamekona took Steve and Catherine up in the helicopter to look for you, and I stayed here, just in case. Good thing I did, huh?"

"Yeah," Kono replied distantly. The worried expression in Danny's eyes did not even register with her. She didn't realize how far off into her own thoughts she was until Danny startled her by laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Kono..." he began, and then stopped, unsure of what to say.

"It's fine, Danny," she muttered, backing away. His hand slipped from her shoulder, even as he took a step forward.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, hoping that his friend would agree. She had been much too quiet since her cousin's death, an empty shell of the joyful, determined Kono they all knew

 _Well, scratch that,_ thought the detective. _She's still determined. Determined to avoid us..._

"No, I don't want to talk about it," Kono denied, taking another step backwards towards the ocean. "I don't want to talk about it..."

In the next instant, the rookie was running away from Danny down the beach, leaving her board lying on the sand.

"Kono, wait!" Danny cried, rushing forward. "Wait!"

But Kono didn't wait, and she didn't turn around.

 ** _5-0-5-0-5-0_**

Kono didn't know exactly why she was running from Danny. Maybe it was because she was afraid to talk about her cousin's death, because that would bring back memories of good times and she would be reminded that she could never, never have those happy times with Chin ever, ever again...

A harsh sob tore loose from her throat, and despite all the crying she had done yesterday, she was surprised she still had some water left in her. But this time, it was different. Before, she had mourned, grieved, missed him. But this time...this time, she was angry.

"Why, Chin?" she screamed at the black, star-filled sky. "Why did you leave me? I tried so hard...I tried so hard..."

Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the sand, bitter sobs jarring her body. Blinded by her own tears, Kono smashed her fist into the soft sand, punching the land that she loved so much. "Why, why, why..." she wept over and over, hitting the ground again and again and again. "Why why why..."

Suddenly, strong hands were gently wrapped around her waist with the intention of lifting her up. Instincts taking over, Kono lashed out at the unseen person, ramming her elbow into their stomach. The person let out a startled "oof!" amd stumbled backwards. Kono whirled around to view whoever had grabbed her, and let out a gasp when she saw Danny keeled over in the sand, holding his stomach and clearly trying not to gag.

"I'm sorry, Danny!" Kono exclaimed, dashing to help her friend. "I'm sorry...I didn't know who you were..."

"S'okay," Danny managed with a smile. "S'all good."

Supporting him by the elbow, Kono aided the Jersey detective in getting to his feet and then apologized again. "Really, I'm sorry, I just..."

"Hey hey hey," Danny said gently, "what'd I say? It's fine, babe, no lasting damage. See?" He stepped back and spread out his arms. "All in one piece, no harm done. Kay?"

"Kay," Kono sniffed.

For a moment, Danny looked at her, and though it was almost pitch-dark now, Kono didn't need to see the expression on his face to know that he wanted desperately to help her.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he asked yet again. "I'm think it might help."

Kono tried her very hardest to muster a smile, and sort of failed. "Maybe."

Danny took a step forward and touched her arm. "Want to give it a shot?"

She took a deep breath and considered it. Did she? Did she really want to rouse up all those memories, all those happy times that she could no longer enjoy with Chin, all those things about him: his smile, his one-liners, his calmness and aura of peace, his common sense and generosity, his ever-constant presence...all that she would never get to see or experience again.

It was a full thirty seconds before she realized that she'd said any of it loud. But when Danny prompted with a soft "go on", she stared at him with a startled, wide-eyed expression. Taking her hand tightly, Danny began to walk along the water, tugging her along. Kono followed, some part deep inside of her knowing that the slow walking would help.

"Chin is dead," she found herself saying. "I miss him so much." Her words were full of tears, and she blinked to clear her blurry vision. "I don't know if I can stay with Five-0," she continued. It was flowing now, how did that happen? "How can I, when he's not there? The whole place is so full of him, Danny! And I just can't go there anymore, cuz he's so there, and yet...he's not!"

"You know his death wasn't your fault...right?" Danny said.

"I let him bleed out," Kono answered emptily.

"No, you didn't. You did everything you could! If there was something you could have done, anything at all, to save your cousin, would you have done it?"

"Yes." The response was instant and completely sincere, not missing a beat. "I would do...would have done...anything for Chin."

"I know, and you did everything you could, Kono. It was not your fault that he died. Okay? And Chin would not want you to blame yourself! I need you to understand that, but more importantly...you need yourself to understand that."

Kono knew that she had done her best, but her best had not been enough. Part of her wanted to cry again and wail that she wasn't good enough, but Danny was right, he was so, so right! There was no way Chin would ever blame her for his death, especially when she had given it her absolute all to bring him back. In that moment, the tightness in her chest eased, and a strange peace filled the cracks in her broken heart. _I'll always be with you,_ she heard Chin's voice say. _Keep on being a light to others._

With a small cry of relief, Kono reached out and threw her arms around Danny.

Danny was taken aback, but he quickly reached out and wrapped his arms around his friend. Almost instantly, Kono melted into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Neither of them were sure how long they stood there, but when Kono stopped crying, Danny couldn't feel his legs. Not that it mattered, though. Right now, Kono was his one and only concern.

Sniffing and hiccuping a little, the rookie wiped her eyes and patted Danny's shoulder. "You deserve a shower, now, brah," she joked, and Danny smiled at the little half-smirk on Kono's face.

It was the first time he'd seen her smile since Chin had died.

"Feel better?" he asked.

Kono tilted her head to the side a bit, and if Danny wasn't mistaken, she looked as if a mentionable weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Yeah," she admitted. "Not one-hundred percent, but better."

She waited for Danny to say "I told you so!" but instead he just nodded. "Good. I'm glad."

"Thanks, Danny," she mumbled softly, smiling at him. "Thanks for getting me to talk, for being there."

"I'm a detective, part of my job is getting people to talk."

She snorted.

"And as for being there...I'll always be there for you, Kono. Day or night. You wanna talk, you pick up the phone and don't hesitate to call me. Or Steve."

Kono nodded.

Shoulder to shoulder, they began to walk towards the parking lot.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Hm?"

"Is it true that you tied a man to the hood of your car and drove around like a maniac to get information out of him?"

"Did I ever tell you about the time when Steve threw a suspect into a shark cage?"

"Danny, you're dodging."

"Or about the time he dangled an injured and bleeding guy off of a very high building?"

"You did tie him to your car."

"What?"

"Oh my god," Kono laughed, "you actually did!"

"Pffftt..." said Danny.

"I knew it!" she crowed.

"So are you staying with Five-0?"

"Yeah," Kono decided after a pause. "I think Chin would want me to."

"No," Danny said, and Kono stopped short. "I _know_ he would," the detective finished. "As Steve says, Five-0 is ohana, and we all belong together. Even if I hate this pineapple infested hellhole, the people aren't so bad."

"Aw, thanks," Kono sassed, but she grinned.

Again, Danny was right. Chin had always wanted the best for his cousin, and Five-0 was, hands-down, the best of the best.

And Kono would never want to be anywhere else.

 ** _THE END_**

 _ **P.S.**_ _I know this seems kind of Danny/Kono, and see it that way if you want. Or just see it as a friend helping a friend. Either one works :)_

 _I try not to write two stories of the same genre in a row, so that's why this one was kinda sad. What would you like to see next? Humor? Romance? Some good old-fashioned whump? Lemme know! :)_


End file.
